SELECTIONS FROM THE IDYLLS OF THE KING Author:ALFRED TENNYSON The Idylls of the King consists of twelve poems dealing with the life of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. The collection is prefaced by a dedication to Prince Albert, who had warmly admired the four Idylls published before his death, and is appeopriately closed by the address to the Queen. — The poems as a whole constitute a true E... more »nglish epic, or, perhaps more exactly, a true British epic, and the only one which English-speaking people can call their own; for not only are they written in the English language, but they deal with British personages and their scenea are laid on British soil. The tales cluster about Arthur as their central figure, and are given a spiritual unity by the intimate association of the Holy Grail with the narrative.« less